In a recent video on Arrive Alive, you can see the Mahindra XUV300 being crash-tested by the Global New Car Assessment Programme (GNCAP). The XUV300 performed exceptionally well, and it now ranks as the safest car ever tested by the organisation in its #SaferCarsForAfrica and #SaferCarsForIndia testing campaigns.
In the crash test videos, you can see the two front airbags deploy in the blink of an eye. Soon thereafter, the crash test dummies make contact with the airbags, which protects them from hitting the steering wheel or dashboard.
Airbags are a very important passive safety feature on any vehicle, and one or more airbags is standard on every passenger vehicle in South Africa.
In a recent report by the National Traffic and Highway Safety Association (NHTSA) the organisation estimated that airbags have saved over 50 000 people’s lives in the USA alone since they were first introduced in the late 1970s.
The same report by the NHTSA says that a front airbag when used with a seatbelt, increases a person’s chance of survival by over 60%. Side airbags, when fitted, also dramatically improve a person’s chances of walking away safely from a crash.
Seatbelts and airbags
It is important to keep in mind that airbags work at their best when the occupants are wearing their seatbelts.
To emphasise the importance of seatbelts, vehicle manufacturers often add the letters “SRS” on a dashboard or steering wheel, next to the airbag sign.
SRS refers to Supplemental Restraint System, which emphasises that a seatbelt should always be your primary restraint, with the airbags in support, or supplemental.
One should keep in mind that an airbag deploys at speeds of over 300 km/h, which means that it could hurt the person sitting in front of the airbag if there is no seatbelt present to help hold the person from hurtling at speed towards the airbag.
The speed and force of an airbag are also why small children and children in child seats should never sit close to an airbag. In most vehicle manuals, the manufacturer warns against a child seat in the front passenger seat, as the child can be seriously hurt by the airbag. If you do have a child sitting on the front seat, you should always deactivate the front passenger airbag.
How does an airbag work?
An airbag is linked to a number of sensors in a vehicle. These sensors, such as a crash sensor and an accelerometer, will measure the impact of an accident and immediately give the signal to an airbag to deploy when it determines that the vehicle has been in an accident.
To deploy at the fastest possible speed, an airbag is fitted with a chemical accelerant that explodes behind the airbag and inflates the entire bag is far less than a second. The bag will deflate shortly after it has inflated.
Modern vehicles have very accurate crash sensors that will determine the action of the airbag. After all, it would be very dangerous for the airbag to deploy when it shouldn’t since it could hurt the driver or passenger or completely disorientate them.
In most entry-level vehicles, such as the Mahindra XUV300 W4, there are airbags for the driver and front passenger. The number of airbags increases in more luxurious vehicles, such as the XUV300 W8, which has a front, side, curtain as well as a knee airbag.
Not all airbags are created equal
While an airbag is a proven and trusted part of a vehicle’s passive safety equipment, it works best when it is part of a well-designed and safe vehicle.
This is why you should always study international crash test reports to see if a vehicle has been well designed – with good structural integrity – and is safe.
One such crash test report is the GNCAP. It has been very critical of vehicles that have been poorly designed and where the structure of the vehicle is not strong enough to protect the occupants, even with airbags present.
In contrast, the XUV300 has performed extremely well in the GNCAP crash tests, despite it being fitted with only two airbags. This is why it became the first vehicle to receive a full five-star safety rating and now ranks as the safest car ever tested by the GNCAP (https://www.globalncap.org/safercarsforafrica).
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